Just For Tonight
by Riza's Cupcakes
Summary: New Year's Eve finds Roy and Riza at Christmas's bar.


Central flickered to life as the cold, clear sky filled with stars. In one of the cities nicest hotels, Riza found herself worrying about her hair for what, as far as she could remember, was the first time in her life. It was past her shoulders now and stick straight, too, which made the curly updo Rebecca had suggested completely impossible with the supplies at hand. She supposed it didn't matter. Who was she hoping to impress in a sleazy bar on the other side of town anyway? Surely Roy Mustang would be impressed regardless, even if he would never dare mention it until they were safely back in East City.

A knock sounded at the door that joined their rooms. The receptionist had raised his eyebrows when they had requested this arrangement before Riza had explained that she was simply a bodyguard, and enforcing those boundaries the first night had been difficult when homesickness had made her want to steal into Roy's room. This place was too opulent for her comfort, and she had wanted something more to ground her than pleasantries concealing desire. Just sleeping beside him, listening to his steady breathing, would have been enough to reassure her.

"Are you ready to go, Lieutenant?" Roy asked.

"Not yet," she called. "Come in if you'd like."

She heard the door open and Roy's footsteps approached the bathroom. He waited outside the door for a moment before peeking inside. "You're as beautiful as ever," he said.

"Flattery will get you nowhere, Colonel. We have to be on our best behavior tonight." Riza reached for her pearl necklace but Roy got to it first, fastening it around her neck for her as she lifted her hair out of the way.

"The first time I put this on you, you didn't have to do that," he said in a nostalgic tone befitting the end of the year.

Riza smiled in spite of herself. "We were different people then."

"Very different. But some things never change, do they?" He leaned in as though he intended to kiss her hair, pausing at the last second.

"Colonel," she said, stiffening. "My feelings for you remain as they have for years, but this is neither the time nor the place to act on them."

"Who knows, maybe 1912 will be the year that I become Fuhrer and can grant you an exemption as my private bodyguard rather than my adjutant."

"Big resolutions this year, I see." Though she was adjusting her necklace, her eyes were locked with those of Roy's reflection.

He shrugged, hands still on her shoulders. "It's the same resolution as every year. Come on, we're going to be late. I bet Hughes is already outside waiting to pick us up."

Just as Roy expected, they found the car waiting in the hotel's driveway. Roy opened the door and handed Riza into the car, both of them prepared to write it off as nothing more than a courtesy. In the front seat, Hughes held Gracia's hand as he pulled the car away from the curb.

"What took you so long? We were about to leave without you," Hughes teased.

"Ask the Lieutenant," Roy said. His fingers were twitching as though he wanted to hold her hand and had to struggle to keep his own to himself.

Riza looked out the window. "I couldn't decide what to do with my hair."

"It looks pretty down," Gracia said. "Long hair suits you."

"It does. Wouldn't you agree, Roy?" Hughes asked, looking at him in the rearview mirror.

Roy scowled. "That's a leading question and you know it, Hughes. Next thing, you'll be telling me to get a wife again. Everyone knows who you're talking about when you say it."

"All the more reason to listen to me," Hughes said.

Neither Roy nor Riza said another word until they had reached the bar, and Riza stared out the window, refusing to make eye contact with him. He didn't help her out of the car once it had stopped, but he did hold the door to the bar. The crowd was small with under an hour left before midnight, most of them regulars from the way they greeted Roy. Riza hung back as she removed her coat, watching the girls hug Roy and chide him for not visiting sooner. Even though she knew they were like sisters to him, she couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealousy that they were allowed to be affectionate with him when she was not.

"Can I get you something to drink, Elizabeth," Madame Christmas said.

"Pardon?" Riza said.

"Why don't you put your coat in the back first. I don't want any mix-ups." She guided Riza with a hand on her elbow until they were alone. Taking the coat and placing it on a hook, she continued, "It's a codename that Roy uses to refer to you. I thought you might appreciate the chance to spend tonight on his arm for a change. It must be tiring watching him march a parade of women past you, even if none of the dates are for real."

Riza felt her unease slip away, just as she always did in the presence of the woman who might have been her mother-in-law had her life taken a different path. She had insisted on treating Riza as family nonetheless, something that made the atmosphere of the bar far more comfortable than any other she had been to. All the same, this wasn't a gift she felt she could accept.

"Christmas, I appreciate what you're trying to do, but my public relationship with the Colonel is—"

"You won't find any spies or soldiers here tonight. There are much nicer parties than this one, and I handpicked our guest list to keep the two of you safe." She took a long drag on her cigarette, regarding Riza with affection carefully concealed behind her usual impassive gaze. Her nephew might be married to the military, but just as sure as he had been her son since her brother's death, Roy's life and heart belonged to Riza, which made them nothing less than married in her eyes. Christmas had said something to that effect the first time Roy had introduced them, and though Riza suspected she'd been at the whiskey by that point, it had meant more than she would ever admit.

Riza inclined her head. "Thank you."

They returned to the main bar, where Roy was perched on the arm of one of the chairs near the door. "Have a seat," he said, patting the cushion.

With a nervous glance around the bar in spite of Christmas's reassurances, Riza sat.

"What would you like to drink? I'll bring you whatever you like, on the house." He placed a hand on her leg, making her jump. Fortunately, the other patrons were too intent on their own drinks to notice, but she reminded herself to act casual, as though being on her first unofficial official date with Roy since enlisting weren't the most terrifying and wonderful way to bring in a new year.

"I'm fine for now," she said.

Roy looked at the nearly empty glass of bourbon in his other hand with a tiny smile. "Maybe I should have as well. Did you know she keeps my old bedroom in case I came to visit?"

"Don't you think it will look suspicious if we don't go back to the hotel tonight?" Riza said in an undertone.

"Nonsense. It's New Year's Eve. Everyone's going to be out late, and no one at the hotel's going to keep track of all the guests coming and going." Roy's hand moved up her thigh until she stopped him.

Vanessa brought Roy another glass but he refused it, asking for two glasses of sparkling wine instead. "If that's alright with you," he added, glancing at Riza. She nodded.

"It's almost midnight anyway."

"You ought to finish the wine first," Roy said, downing the last of his whiskey. "You'll have better things to do when the clock strikes twelve."

A few moments later, Vanessa returned with their drinks and a third glass for Hughes. Gracia looked half asleep and he nudged her gently. "It's almost midnight, dear." Her eyes fluttered open and she got up from the chair opposite Riza's, taking Hughes's hand.

Riza sipped at her wine as Christmas turned on the radio for the countdown. Beside her, Roy drained his own glass in one. The final minutes of 1911 slipped past with Roy close enough for her to touch and enough of a crowd that she didn't dare, no matter how confident Christmas was in the other guests.

The rest of the crowd had turned toward the radio, echoing the numbers. "Twenty, nineteen…."

Riza finished her wine.

"Nine, eight, seven…"

"Kiss her," Hughes said, just loud enough for Roy and Riza to hear. He had already wrapped himself around Gracia in preparation.

"Four, three…"

And then Roy was holding her. Carefully, reverently, as though showing her affection in public might break some sort of spell and send the military rushing to find them. His lips found hers.

"One—happy New Year!"

They were still kissing, Roy's tongue having somehow found its way into her mouth, and she had no desire to push him away. Perhaps it was the wine, perhaps it was Christmas's promise that tonight was a gift to them, but she ignored the sensible part of herself. It was 1912 now, and one day, one day, Roy would be Fuhrer and then they would have whatever time was left to them to kiss at parties instead of in secret. If she had tonight, her heart could wait that much longer to keep him for real and not just in stolen nights when the loneliness was too much for both of them.

All too soon, it came to an end, and they separated as Vanessa pressed another glass into each of their hands.

"To our goals," Riza said, holding up her glass.

"To us," Roy said as he tapped his own against hers. "To tonight and to Amestris and to everything we could have had." He drained this glass faster than the last, and Riza followed suit because he was already saying goodbye to Hughes and Gracia and leading her by the hand to the back, to the stairs up to his old room.

"I think I hear fireworks," she said once he had closed the door behind them. "I'd have thought they'd be over by now."

Roy opened the curtains but nothing could be seen beyond the dim alley behind the bar so he shut them again. "There should be a couple sets of pajamas in the closet," he said, sinking down onto the bed to remove his shoes. "In case you just want to go to sleep."

Riza considered the offer for a moment before settling onto the bed beside him and tucking her bare feet up. Leaning against him, resting her hands and chin on his shoulder, she shook her head. "No. Just for tonight, we're safe and you're all mine."

"And you're mine," he added, turning to kiss her again, this time with abandon. "I can't think of a better way to start a year."


End file.
